Soaking-pit trolley



N ov. 22, A193.8. l Y c. H. scHRAMM 2,137,813'

l soAKINGAPIT TROLLEY Filed sept. 28, 1955 3" Sheets-sheet 1 Even/for; Cflc/era/zm.

Nov. z2, 193.8.` @Hmm 2,137,813

SOAKING-PIT TROLLEY Filed sept. 28, 1935 5 sheets-sheet 2 lo l fyg. Y 4m y '/7 mw' c. l-qlr. 'scHRAM-M soAKING-PI'LTROLLY Filed sept. 28,l 1955 y Nov. 22, 1938.

s sheets-sheet s" 0?, zorzys.

Patented Nov, 22, 1938 F F EL l i somme-mfr rocher Christopher Henry Schra, uslregon, Mich.,

assigner, by :mesme assignments, to i l s nell d Moore, lino., New Worin N. l., poration ot New .Mersey Application September 2d, i935, aerial lilo. MM5

lli'he object oi. this invention is to provide a combined hoisting and traversing mechanism especially adapted to raise, lower and traverse the hre-brick cover of a high-temperature furd nace of the door-installed type for heating ingots in steel mills.

ln the prior art the cover of a soaking pit was attached to a machine or carriage running upon rails some three feet above the door. The carriage was not provided With'any hoisting mechanism, the cover beingl raised and lowered by providing declivities in the rails. When the carriage rolled down the declivities the cover'was lowered onto the top of the furnace. Being thus lli im lowered sidewise onto the furnace and traveling,

gots and compelled the workmen to rearrange the ingots in the furnace by means of the overhead electric ingot-handling cranei ycommonly provided ior that purpose. Moreover, the heat escaping through the openings around the iurnace throat caused rapid destruction oi the metal partsbinding the furnace together and produced warping of the cast steel rails on which the carriage operated. This manner of removing andV replacing the cover resulted in great loss of heat, damage to the rails upon which the carriagemoved, disorder and delays in production, and danger to the workmen.

By means oi the present invention an effective seal is provided at the furnace throat, thus conserving heat, eliminating the rapid deterioration of rails and other structures heretofore experienced, improving the quality of the ingots, 'promoting increased eiciency of the operating personnel, and reducing operating costs.

In the accompanying 'drawings l Figure 1 is a perspective view of a soaking pit trolley embodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a. plan view of the trolley, the cover beingindicated by a dotted circle.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental end elevationk of the trolley in operative lrelation to a soaking pit.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of that side of the trolley on which the hoisting motor is mounted.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the opposite side of the (imi. 26d-lili) trolley namely, that on which the traversing motor is located.

In Fig. 3, a indicates the door level', h the,throat of the soaking pit, c an annular recess in the door encircling the throat of the soaking pit, said recess being nlled with sand, and d the cover of the pit, said cover having a ange e adapted to be embedded in the sand when the cover is'in closed position to form a seal.

Rails f are mounted on the floor at opposite sides of the furnace. These rails extend far enough away from the furnace so that the 4cover may be removed laterally suiiicientlyl to uncover the throat b and asmuch farther as may be desired. i

The trolley comprises a rigid frame of generally rectangular form consisting' of 4two girders l and i and two transverse beams d and i. This frame is provided with rollers to that run on the rails f. The rollers d at one end of the frame are arranged .to be driven by means including a transverse shait t journaled on the girds l and l. Drive chains 'l communicate power from sprocket wheels on the shaft to sprocket Wheels fixed on the axles of said rollers. The shaft t is driven through bevel gears d l(Fig. 2) from a shaft il, the latter being connected through a speed reducer lll and a flexible coupling ll to an electric motor it. Il ilA is a magnetic brake of any desired construction for stopping the motor and thus arresting the travel of the trolley.

, The cover d may be suspended from the trolley at four equidistant points by any suitable means, as, for example, lugs g (Fig. 2) fastened to the cover. These lugs have a pn-and-slot` connection,as `shown in Fig. 3, to swiveling clevises lil. The latter are connected to rockers or bell cranks i5 and i6 which areY pivoted at Il in the beams 3 and t. The `pair of rockers on the beam 3 are connected to move together by means of a' reach rod it, the rockers on the beam 4 being similarly connected. In order that all four rockers shall swing in unison, the rockers .i6 are connected through pitmen i9 (Figs. 2 and 3) to a crank shaft 2li journaled in the beam-s 3 and 4. The shaft is located at one side of the throat of the soaking pit, hence its bearings are some distance from the throat of the pit and thus somewhat removed from direct exposureto the heat. The crank shaft is driven through gears 2| from a shaft 22. Power to drive the shaft 22 is obtained from an electric motor 23 through a flexible coupling 24 and a speed reducer 25. A magnetic brake 26 serves to stop the motor 23 when the cover has been raised or lowered, said brake GRV l il

assisting t'o hold the cover elevated after it has been raised. A rotary type limit switch (not shown) of any preferred construction may be connected to the crank shaft and adjusted to interrupt the circuit of the hoist motor 23 at the extreme points of crank throw, i. e., when the cover has been lifted to full height and when vthe cover has been allowed to rest on the sand motor in that position.

It will be seen that the construction herein disclosed eliminates all overhead apparatus, with the dangers incident to the use and maintenance of such apparatus; that the trolley is so constructed as not to be damaged by the high temperature conditions to which itis constantly exposed; that the cover d is directly beneath and approximately enclosed by the trolley and is raised and lowered and moved horizontally xed distances without attention on the part of the operator; thatl excessive pressure cannot be placed upon the cover when the latter is lowered onto its seat, as the cover has a Boating connection with the trolley; and that by the use of conventional electric switches the trolley may be easily and safely controlled to raise, remove, return and lower the cover without exposing the operator or other` workmen to danger.

In prior-art instances wherein the cover was moved by a carriage, special apparatus was provided at one side of the soaking pit for supporting and traversing the carriage. The drivingmotor was stationarily located along or near the path of travel of the carriage. This arrangement entailed loss of space in the building and placed limitations upon the location of the pits, it being understood that in practice a number of soaking pits must be accommodated in the building and provided with cover-handling means.

My apparatus is compact and self-contained, the motors that raise, lower and traverse the cover being mounted on the carriage. Thus the' apparatus occupies a minium amount of space and does not necessitate any uneconomical arrangement of the pits.

I claim as my invention:

The combination with a soaking pit of the floor-installed type having a cover adapted to rest upon the floor, of rails located on the floor at opposite sides of the pit, a trolley mounted on said rails and adapted to be traversed from a position directly over the pit to a position at one side thereof, said trolley comprising two girders disposed parallel to respective ones of said rails, roller means on said girders engaging the rails to support the trolleythereon, and two transverse beams connecting the ends of said girders to form a rigid rectangular frame, means on the trolley for raising and lowering the pit cover comprising a pair of bell-crank levers pivotally supported on each of said beams and removably connected with the pit cover, means connecting each pair of bell cranks together for simultaneous operation, a shaft extending across the trolley and journaled on said beams, crank arms mounted on said shaft adjacent said beams, each crank arm being connected with one of said bell crank levers whereby to rock the levers and thereby raise and lower the pit cover in response to the rotation of the shaft, and vmeans including a motor mounted on one of said girders for rotating said shaft.

CHRISTOPHER HENRY SCHRAMM. 

